Syracuse University PRSSA Bateman Team | 2016 PRSSA BATEMAN CASE STUDY COMPETITION

#GiveAHand Campaign
Created by: Evelyn Burgess, Amy Hahn, Kelsey Lewis, Ashley Matousek, Maya Perry
Faculty Advisor: Joon Soo Lim, Ph.D.

#GiveAHand Campaign

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary

Research

Target Audiences

Key Messages

Challenges and Opportunities

Objectives

Strategies, Rationales & Tactics

10

Evaluation

13

Conclusion

13

Appendix

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The everyday freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the U.S. have remained intact largely due to the
unwavering protection brought forth by our nations veterans. However, all too often these men and
women receive limited appreciation in return for their services, particularly as they end their military
careers and re-enter civilian life. As the number of veterans in pursuit of a higher education continues to
increase, it is imperative to maximize and strengthen the awareness and support networks for student
veterans on Syracuse University campus. By facilitating the transition from warrior to scholar, we are
able to - at the very least - express our gratitude for the millions of service men and women who have
dedicated their lives to serving our country and preserving our safety.
The 2016 Syracuse University PRSSA Bateman Team partnered with the Syracuse University Chapter
of the Student Veterans of America (SVA) to achieve this mission by encouraging Syracuse campus and
community members to give a hand. The #GiveAHand Campaign was designed and subsequently
implemented as a weeklong series of events to show our unified effort in supporting student veterans on
their road to a higher education.
We facilitated action by creating a pledge, collecting both in-person and online signatures from
Syracuse campus and community members, declaring that he/she would give a hand to student
veterans at Syracuse University in order to foster unity and inclusiveness on our campus. Furthermore,
we requested contact information for those who wished to be informed on current and upcoming
student veteran related events and activities. In order to symbolize the hundreds of pledges that were
taken, we created a mural comprised of patriotic colored hands that featured the signatures of those
who committed to supporting student veterans. Once the mural was full, we then donated it to the SU
Student Veterans Office, where it is currently on full display.
We utilized the communication channels of our award-winning SU Student Veterans Organization to get
in contact with the limited number of student veterans at SU in order to inform them on our ongoing
events while also encouraging their attendance to help bridge the gap between veteran and non-veteran
students. Moreover, we created dog tags featuring the #GiveAHand logo, helping to connect both
publics through this respected veteran attire.
We took advantage of Syracuse Universitys communal student hub, Schine Student Center, to set up
an informational table stationed throughout the campaign week. At the table we distributed info
graphics, dog tags, food, and opportunities to take the pledge. Our goal in doing this was to encourage
the inclusiveness and togetherness of student veterans on Syracuse Universitys campus through
education, fellowship, and support.
We sparked a conversation about student veterans at SU by creating unified hand displays across
campus. We rented out SUs grassy knoll and created an arrangement of 200 paper hands that
featured various did you know facts about student veterans at SU. Furthermore, we enlisted the help
of students and faculty members to simulate a hand formation of the quad as a symbol of our support
for student veterans. We carried out this conversation on the Internet as well, using our campaign social
media accounts to feature activities occurring during the week as well as those pledged their support,
including features on major influencers at Syracuse, such as our school mascot Otto the Orange and

Malachi Richardson, the star of SUs basketball team. We also create a video promoting the highlights
of our campaign, which we distributed across social media platforms and academic list-servs.
Jordan Robinson - President of the Student Veterans Organization of Syracuse University - confirmed
an annual renewal of the #GiveAHand Week in the forthcoming years, given the success achieved
during our campaigns inaugural run.
In the following report, learn how Syracuse Universitys PRSSA Bateman Team increased the
awareness, support, and knowledge of student veterans at Syracuse University by encouraging campus
and community members to #GiveAHand.

RESEARCH
SITUATION ANALYSIS
As the number of veterans in pursuit of a higher education continues to increase, it is imperative to maximize and
strengthen the awareness and support for student veterans on college campuses. Student veterans have reported
feelings of isolation and misconceptions from students and faculty members on campus. Lack of student veteran
awareness on campus, lack of proper education regarding veteran-related issues, and lack of available integration
activities between student veterans non-veteran students are just a few of the issues that have sparked these
feelings among the veteran community.
Since Student Veterans of Americas (SVA) founding in 2008, it has worked hard to aid student veterans in their
transition from military to college life. It has provided educational benefits and services to student veterans through
its 1,100 chapters across a myriad of college campuses across the country. Despite these groundbreaking efforts,
the organizations lack of visibility and support on college campuses hinders its growth.
The #GiveAHand campaign partnered with SVAs Syracuse University chapter - the Student Veterans Organization
(SVO) - in order to aid the organization in its efforts towards building stronger relationships between student
veterans and non-veteran students, educating campus and community members about student veterans, and
increasing awareness of SVO services and benefits among all students and faculty members. Thanks to the
#GiveAHand Campaign collaboration with the SVO, Syracuse University is on its way to becoming the optimal
campus environment for students veterans to receive their higher education.

SECONDARY RESEARCH
In order to implement a campaign benefiting student veterans, we studied the data and statistics acquired by
prominent veteran organizations as well as veteran-related articles and databases. Additionally, we looked at
Syracuse-specific resources to get a better understanding of our student veterans in particular.

Student Veterans of America

Since 2008, over 1,000,000 veterans used SVA educational benefits to pursue post-secondary
degrees or certificates.

SVAs efforts, along with other veteran-related organizations, led to the passage of the Post-9/11
Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.
SVA is the only umbrella organization that represents student veterans in higher education.
SVA's presence at the local and national level has grown to include over 1,100 chapter affiliates, a
number of private and non-profit partners, and an extensive list of beneficial programs and services.
SVA also has an extensive list of key partners, corporate partners, grant-making partners, honor roll
members, corps members, and foundation funders.
Student Veterans Coalition
Student veterans most commonly voiced grievances of their educational experiences were
associated with delays in the certification process and distribution of educational benefits.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Over 60% of all new jobs created from now until 2018 will require a post-secondary degree or
credential.
VetSuccess at Syracuse University
Syracuse Universitys veteran service, named VetSuccess, provides over 10 services for student
veterans. Some of these services include career building, guidance with educational benefits,
referrals for VA healthcare, and much more.
Syracuse University Resource Center
As of the Fall 2015 semester, there were 248 undergraduates and 169 graduate and law students
using VA educational benefits.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
We conducted a pre- and post-campaign survey for the general public, two focus groups made up of student
veterans and faculty/staff, and an in-depth interview with the president of the Student Veterans Organization,
Jordan Robinson.

Pre-Survey
We received 154 responses from our cross-sectional survey. The survey asked questions regarding the
awareness of student veterans and the SVO on campus, the perceptions of student veterans on
campus, and the motivations and barriers toward engaging in veteran-related events and activities.
The majority of respondents (81%) have not heart of the SVO at SU & for the minority of
those who did (19%): had not heard of recent SVO achievements, had rarely heard about

SVO events, and thus had mostly not attended an SVO event or any event relating to
student veterans in general (92%).
64% have not had a class with a student veteran and 84% did not know of any student
veterans who had participated in extracurricular activities.
The most popular extracurricular activity student veterans were known to participate in was
recreation and fitness on campus.
The majority opinion of perceptions of student veterans included that quite a bit of student
veterans are more serious about learning, have a greater understanding of social issues,
have a greater understanding of public affairs, and are good team players. The majority
opinion also said that some student veterans are isolated on campus.
The majority of respondents (64%) said that there should be more integration between
student veterans and non-veteran students on campus. However, the majority were also
indifferent about how important it was to them personally to support student veterans at SU.
44% of the respondents said that they have never or rarely heard about student veterans on
campus. Most respondents were willing to write a letter to a veteran or sign a pledge to
support student veterans while people were less willing to attend a student veteran event or
donate money for awareness.
The majority of ways respondents receive their school-related information is via SU social
media accounts and email list-servs.
Post-Survey
Focus Groups
We conducted two focus groups, both consisting of student veterans and veteran faculty/staff
members.
The student veterans expressed feeling a lack of contact between the Student Veteran
Organization (SVO) and student veterans. It was agreed among the majority of student
veterans that in order to get more information regarding the organization, they needed to
know the right people and be proactive in finding and utilizing available resources.
Furthermore, they noted that they were unaware of certain veteran-related places on
campus, such as the veterans lounge.
The student veterans commented on faculty miscommunication and misconduct. It was
explained that at times, student veterans feel uncomfortable in a class due to a topic that is

being discussed. One participant reported that a professor made her feel anxious by singling
her out due to her military status. The majority of participants stated a desire for more
support from the SVO when it comes to interacting with faculty.
The student veterans expressed concern about their lack of knowledge of their benefits.
They elaborated, saying that the lack of communication between themselves and faculty led
to a lack of understanding as to what services they do and do not have access to.
The student veterans revealed feelings of isolation while on campus. They explain that the
age difference between themselves and the majority of non-veteran students is daunting.
With this age gap also comes a variance in levels of maturity and life experiences, which only
furthers the distance between the two groups.
In-Depth Interview
We conducted an in-depth interview with he president of the Student Veterans Organization, Jordan
Robinson.
Robinson explained that the SVO provides a strong support system for those who are in fact
aware of the organization and its services and benefits.
She revealed that it is often difficult to get active participation with the SVO from all student
veterans on campus. The trouble with scheduling events stems from the fact that the
majority of these student veterans have established lives, families, and other obligations
outside of the university. Also, there are some student veterans who choose to dissociate
from he military and any memories pertaining to it for personal reasons.
It is difficult for Robinson to relate to non-veteran students, given the large discrepancies in
past life experiences.
Robinson expressed her desire to change the level of awareness of student veterans among
non-veterans and to create a better understanding among non-veterans of veteran issues
and dialogue.

TARGET AUDIENCES
PRIMARY AUDIENCES
Syracuse University student veterans & service members
Syracuse University students & faculty members
Syracuse residents & community members

SECONDARY AUDIENCES
SVA stakeholders: employers, higher education, VSOs, VSAs
Syracuse local news media

KEY MESSAGES
Awareness of student veterans has remained low largely due to the lack of knowledge about
student veterans and the lack of opportunities for student veterans and non-veteran students to
interact.
Student veterans should feel not only comfortable, but also welcomed on campus and have a
comprehensive understanding of all the benefits and resources available to them. The #GiveAHand
Campaign is helping the SVO in their efforts to ensure knowledge of these on-campus services is
increased.
Sign the pledge to support student veterans in their pursuit of a higher education and give a hand
to those transitioning into the Syracuse community.
Become educated about student veterans and what they have done for us in order to be able to
understand and appreciate our heroes.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Challenge: The final week of the allotted timeframe for the campaign was during Syracuse Universitys
Spring Break. This resulted in a restricted amount of time to implement our campaign on campus.
Opportunity: We implemented this idea of having limited time but emphasizing our campaign as
#GiveAHand Week. Each day consisted of some kind of event aimed at increasing awareness of
student veterans on campus. The success of these week-long activities has ensured its renewal by the
Student Veteran Organization to be an annual campaign.
Challenge: Having a second team competing in the 2016 PRSSA Bateman Competition at Syracuse
University made it difficult to create a distinguishable campaign for the student body to understand why
two separate but equal campaigns were being promoted across campus simultaneously.
Opportunity: With so much buzz on campus revolving around student veterans, there was an
increased curiously about the Student Veteran Organization.

Challenge: As a culminating event for the #GiveAHand Campaign, we wanted to gather students and
faculty members on the main quad of Syracuse University to make a hand formation as a symbol of
coming together in support of student veterans at SU. Once the hand was formed, we intended to take
an aerial shot using a drone. It was only later that we discovered the use of drones on campus property
had recently been prohibited.
Opportunity: Despite being unable to capture an over-head shot of the hand formation on quad, we
were able to improvise and find an elevated surface to take the picture. By taking the picture in this way,
we were able to capture the faces of those who participated in the event, as opposed to seeing the top
of their heads.
Challenge: Part of the #GiveAHand Campaign was to have students sign their names on cut-out hands
and attach it to a large mural dedicated to supporting student veterans. In order to do this, we planned
to table every day of the week inside Schine Student Center - a social hub for the student body thats
occupied by thousands on a daily basis. We exited to be bale to table for five consecutive days but later
found out that organizations are limited to only three times a week.
Opportunity: Although we were restricted with the amount of time to table, through an in-kind
donation, we were able to supply free cookies to participants who signed a hand and pledged to
#GiveAHand. Had we tabled everyday, we would not have been able to supply enough food for
participants.

OBJECTIVES
3 OBJECTIVES

To increase social media and website followers by 50% by March 15, 2016
in order to increase the knowledge of student veterans on campus.
To have at least 200 pledges from students and faculty members by March
15, 2016 in order to increase participation in future student veteran related
activities and events at SU.
To increase awareness of SVO & SVA related programs and benefits among
student veterans and other stakeholders by 15% by March 15, 2016.

STRATEGIES, RATIONALES & TACTICS

STRATEGY 1: Create a culturally relevant campaign that ensures maximum reach
among all target audiences.
Rationale: From our research we discovered the SVO chapter at Syracuse University
faced three main issues: a lack of awareness of the SVO, a lack of proper education
regarding veteran-related issues, and a lack of available integrating activities between
student veterans and non-veteran students, faculty, and community members. Our
survey revealed that 65% of our key publics retrieved the majority of their information
from social media. Hence the need to design an informative campaign thats
culturally relevant to all target audiences and utilizes multiple media channels.
Tactic 1: Implement a consistent campaign theme that encourages the
universal ability to give a hand. We utilized the hashtag #GiveAHand across
social media platforms and used the hand logo throughout our campaign
materials as a symbol of giving back to our veterans. We decided on the colors
red, white, blue, and orange to form a blend of patriotic and school spirit. We
also used the #GiveAHand throughout all promotional advertisements and
products.
Tactic 2: Utilize culturally relevant media to promote week-long events
associated with the #GiveAHand campaign. We used Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and designed our own website to reach our audience, after learning in
our primary research that these were the platforms most frequently used among
target audiences.
actic 3: Create public displays of the hand logo across the SU campus to
T
raise awareness of the #GiveAHand campaign week-long events. We designed
colored hands that featured various Did You Know facts about student
veterans at SU, which we then had laminated, cut out, and placed across the SU
grassy knoll - An area between two major buildings on campus and frequented
by thousands of students on a daily basis. We also created a mural comprised of
various colored cut-out hands with the signatures of all students and faculty
members who took the pledge in support of student veterans. SU admired and
added to the mural throughout the week until it was eventually donated to our
Student Veterans Office, where it is currently displayed in the Veterans Lounge.

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Tactic 4: Distribute a press release detailing #GiveAHand Week to SU

affiliated media outlets. We determined the most visited SU-affiliated media
outlets and then proceeded to distribute press releases to The Daily Orange and
SU News.
Tactic 5: Pitch the #GiveAHand Week campaign to Syracuse local media
outlets. We sent out a media advisory to popular Syracuse news sources,
including Syracuse.com and The Post Standard, as well as to Syracuses local
news channel, Bridge Street.
STRATEGY 2: Encourage target audiences to participate in #GiveAHand week-long
events.
Rationale: Our pre-campaign survey revealed that 64% of respondents said that
there should be more integration between student veterans and non-veteran
students on campus. However, 44% of the respondents also said that they have
never or rarely heard about student veterans on campus. In order to increase
campaign exposure and the chances of engagement, we wanted to create a
multifaceted campaign.
Tactic 1: Create a campaign that offers multiple opportunities for target
audiences to show their support for student veterans. We created various
opportunities throughout the week for target audiences to participate in our
campaign. These opportunities ranged from signing a pledge to engaging on
social media to wearing our merchandise to helping create a human hand
formation.
Tactic 2: Set up a table at Schine Student Center to hand out dog tags
featuring the #GiveAHand logo. We had a table stationed for our campaign in the
Schine Student Center - A communal area for students to congregate and
discover new activities and events happening on campus. At our table, we
encouraged students and faculty members to sign our pledge and in return,
receive a free #GiveAHand dog tag, helping to connect veteran and non-veteran
students and faculty members through an iconic respected veteran attire.
Tactic 3: Recruit SU students & faculty members to form a giant hand on the
quad for a photo-op to symbolize our unified effort in supporting student
veterans. We enlisted the help of SU students and faculty members at the end of
the week to form a giant hand, which we featured in our campaign highlights
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video and across our social media platforms.

STRATEGY 3: Craft a newsworthy story through the use of both visual and textual
methods of communication.
Rationale: A well-crafted campaign utilizes all forms of storytelling in order to ensure
key publics can connect at a personal level. Our research demonstrated a general
lack of engagement with the SVO from student veterans, the student body, and
faculty members. Video materials, infographics, and personal stories are perceived to
be the most effective in information processing and viewer engagement.
Tactic 1: Distribute educational infographics via list-servs, bulletin boards,
and our table stationed in Schine Student Center. We created two infographics
for our different target audiences. Our first infographic was designed to educate
student veterans and non-veteran students at SU about the SVOs general
contact information, which we placed on bulletin boards throughout various
academic buildings and distributed at our table stationed in Schine Student
Center. Our second infographic was created for faculty members in regards to
working with student veterans in the classroom, which we distributed via faculty
list-servs.
Tactic 2: Include Did You Know facts about student veterans on the paper
hands displayed on the grassy knoll. We arranged for over 200 paper hands to be
placed on the grassy knoll, featuring five different Did You Know facts about
the SVO chapter at SU and student veterans in general. We encouraged SU
campus members to snap pictures of the unique visual display and share them
online using our hashtag #GiveAHand.
Tactic 3: Create a video featuring the highlights of the #GiveAHand Campaign
week. At the end of our campaign, we created a video featuring the highlights of
the past weeks activities and events in order to further promote student veterans
and the SVO at SU. We then distributed this video across our social media
platforms and campaign website.
STRATEGY 4: Engage with SVOs existing community and encourage them to share
their contributions to #GiveAHand Week events online.
Rationale: From the 19% of respondents that had heard of the SVO, the subgroup
revealed that only 22% were aware of SVO achievements, 44% stated they had
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rarely heard of events held by the SVO, and 78% had not attended an SVO event.
Our focus groups also revealed that student veterans felt as though SVO services
and benefits werent readily accessible to them. In order to ensure SVOs existing
community was properly represented in our campaign, we wanted to establish
relationships with the organization and leverage their social media presence to
further promote its benefits and services.
Tactic 1: Use #GiveAHand Campaign social media accounts to create timely
and informative posts about the SVO and increase following. We utilized our
campaign's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts to engage with target
publics and encourage them share their stories using the campaign hashtag
#GiveAHand. We also re-posted materials from the SVO accounts in order to
gain traction and direct followers towards the organizations website.
Tactic 2: Encourage campus & community members to share their
contributions to #GiveAHand Week events online. We created a tag five friends
post that circulated throughout the study body at SU. We also encouraged the
use of hashtag across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram when posting pictures
of our events.

EVALUATION
OBJECTIVE 1: ACHIEVED

To increase social media and website followers by 50% by March 15, 2016 in
order to increase the knowledge of student veterans on campus.By the end of
our campaign week, we obtained 397 websites views, reached over 400 people on
Facebook, engaged with over 50 people on Twitter, and had a total of 33 followers
on Instagram. In addition, our post- campaign survey results showed that social
media accounted for 50% of the ways respondents heard about the #GiveAHand
Campaign.
OBJECTIVE 2: ACHIEVED

To have at least 200 pledges from students and faculty members by March 15,
2016 in order to increase participation in future student veteran related
activities and events at SU.At the end of our campaign we received a total of 214
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pledges, 122 online and 92 written. Furthermore, our post- campaign survey results
revealed that the majority of people stated that they were willing to participate in
future events to support the student veterans of SU.
OBJECTIVE 3: ACHIEVED

To increase awareness of SVO & SVA related programs and benefits among
student veterans and other stakeholders by 15% by March 15, 2016.Our postcampaign survey revealed that awareness of the SVO grew by 17% among target
audiences.
Media Coverage:

Local - Syracuse.com, The Post Standard, Bridge Street

On Campus - The Daily Orange, SU News, Noticias
We reached out to the three major local media outlets and on campus media outlets,
however, no one responded to our pitches within the timeframe of the campaign.

Social Media:
We created a website for our campaign using the web hosting service company,
Weebly. According to Weeblys analytics, during the week of our campaign
implementation we received 397 page views and 95 unique visitors. We also
received 122 pledges through the website, which comprised of 110 students, 6
faculty members, 3 student veterans, 2 community members, and 1 ROTC member.
Our campaigns Facebook page maintained 136 likes. According to Facebook
analytics, our page reached over 400 people on multiple days of our campaign. Our
campaigns Twitter account gained 19 followers, tweeted 27 times with 17 retweets, and engaged with over 50 people. According to the analytics program,
Media Analysis Platform (MAP), powered by Sysomos, between February 15 - March
15, the term GiveAHand had a Twitter reach of an estimated 57,382 impressions
with 55 Twitter mentions by 31 users. Our campaigns Instagram account
accumulated 33 followers, 15 posts, and had a total of 31 likes.
The SVO at SU will continue to use the website we designed as well as the social
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media accounts to continue their efforts to increase awareness and engagement

with our campaigns following.

CONCLUSION
THE #GIVEAHAND CAMPAIGN...
Increased awareness of SVO related programs and benefits among Syracuse
campus and community members by 17%.
Obtained support from 217 Syracuse campus and community members to
pledge their participation in future veteran related events and activities on
campus.
Established a long-lasting partnership with the SVO at Syracuse University.
Sparked a conversation about student veterans at SU among Syracuse
campus and community members via social media, infographics, and
promotional materials/demonstrations.

WHO WE REACHED
Student Veterans Organization Members
Faculty of S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
yracuse campus and community members who viewed the hands in the
S
grassy knoll, the #GiveAHand table in Schine Student Center, and/or the
campaign highlights video distributed across social media
ROTC members, SVO members, and students that participated in the hand
formation on the quad
#GiveAHand Campaign followers on social media
yracuse University extracurricular groups - SU mens basketball team, SU
S
marching band, three sorority chapters

IMPACT
The #GiveAHand Campaign has brought attention to a national issue by making it
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relevant to Syracuse campus and community members. The #GiveAHand Campaign

has improved the awareness and behavioral support of the SVO at SU and has
provided the organization with additional online platforms to reach key publics on
campus.

CONTINUATION
Our successful collaboration with the Student Veterans Organization at Syracuse
University has ensured the continuation of the #GiveAHand Campaigns key
messages and objectives. The President of the SVO has confirmed on behalf of the
organization that they will be taking over our campaigns social media accounts and
continuing our online efforts to encourage Syracuse campus and community
members to support student veterans. The #GiveAHand Campaign has brought
together various publics in the city of Syracuse by uniting everyone around the
universal ability to give a hand - an act to be continued for years to come.

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